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round political button, orange background with black text and brown image. Text: "Ellensburg" "July 8-10, 1977" Image: Brown bird with "=" sign and sign for female cut out of the bird exposing the orange background color. Washington State's International Women's Year Conference, a congressionally-mandated and federally funded event to identify and discuss solutions to problems faced by women. Between 1972 and 1977, the United States was embroiled in debates over women's rights and the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. As a result of the these conversations and the United Nations Council designation of 1976 as International Women's Year, the US Federal Government, as mandated by Congress, funded conferences in various US cities to garner support for the ERA. The Washington State conference occurred in Ellensburg between July 8-10, 1977, with 4,000 registered women and 2,000 waiting to join in the conference proceedings. The conference covered many topics, including caucuses of Asian American women.

2008.016.001.014